Roy Mark

WASHINGTON — Seven years after joining the Federal Communications Commission, Chairman Michael Powell bade a teary goodbye today at the conclusion of his 90th FCC open meeting. “Government service is not lucrative and it takes a painful toll on you personally and your family,” the often controversial Powell said. “It saddens me when public officials […]

WASHINGTON — Senate Republican technology leaders admitted today it will be difficult to stop the looming June deadline for corporations to begin fully expensing employee stock options, a move the IT industry fears will dent profits and hurt employee recruitment. Currently companies are allowed to blur the potential bottom-line impact of stock options on their […]

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved its fast-track anti-spyware legislation today, pushing the bill out for a full House vote. But not before amending its language. Again. At a January hearing on the legislation, several lawmakers, who otherwise strongly supported H.R. 29, the Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act (SPY ACT), […]

The Department of Justice’s (DoJ) campaign against international online piracy scored its first legal victories Tuesday with three men pleading guilty to felony charges of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. The convictions are the first in an 18-month, multi-national software piracy investigation known as Operation Higher Education. Seth Kleinberg, Jeffrey Lerman and Albert Bryndzda […]

WASHINGTON — The nation’s top technology executives, led by Cisco’s John Chambers and venture capitalist John Doerr, took Capitol Hill today with a unified message for lawmakers: the United States is in danger of losing its competitive IT edge. Chambers and Doerr are co-founders of the five-year-old TechNet, a 150-member network of CEOs and senior […]

Internet telephony firms praised Thursday’s action by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to fine a small telecom for blocking Voice over Internet Protocol traffic, but said problems of keeping broadband networks open to all IP applications remain. Over the last six months, both consumer VoIP provider Vonage and wholesaler Nuvio complained to the FCC about […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today fined a North Carolina telecom holding company $15,000 for blocking Voice over IP calls to their customers. In addition to the fine, Madison River Communications of Mebane, N.C., agreed to refrain from blocking VoIP traffic and to put measures into place to ensure that such blocking won’t happen again. […]

Legislation to provide tax incentives creating the first-ever nationwide electronic waste-recycling infrastructure was introduced in the U.S. Senate today by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jim Talent (R-Mo.). The Electronic Waste Recycling and Promotion and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 establishes an $8 per unit tax credit for companies that recycle at least 5,000 display […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved late Wednesday afternoon Verizon Wireless’ $3 billion cash deal for NextWave’s spectrum licenses, only one day after a federal bankruptcy court approved NextWave’s reorganization plan. The deal allows Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between regional carrier Verizon Communications and British telecom Vodafone , to boost its wireless capacity in […]

While the U.S. House of Representatives has initially focused on anti-spyware measures in the early days of the 109th Congress, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) this week targeted phishing in one of the first technology bills introduced in the upper chamber. Phishing is a form of identity theft launched by cyberspace con artists. It usually begins […]

WASHINGTON — Telecom’s top executives traveled to Capitol Hill today to make their cases before Congress for a spate of high-profile mergers that are changing the face of the industry. If the executives’ warm reception from the full House Energy and Commerce Committee is any indication, the mergers will have little trouble in Washington. “The […]

WASHINGTON — The final piece fell into place today for the U.S. Supreme Court to review its 20-year-old landmark Sony Betamax decision. On Tuesday, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and their supporters filed briefs for the March 29 high court date. The entertainment industry filed its final briefs in January in a case that pits content owners […]